


Always Fine

by dragonwings948



Series: TARDIS Fam [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Friendship, Sick Character, Sick Doctor (Doctor Who), Sickfic, Team as Family, Tropes, the Doctor is in denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 01:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16822753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: After the events of The Witchfinders, the Doctor's friends begin to wonder if time lords are really immune to human sicknesses...





	Always Fine

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was born because I was sad when the Doctor said that the ropes she was tied up with were hurting her and also I felt really bad for her (and Jodie) because of jumping in a lake twice and then ending up in the rain. Let the sickfic begin!

Several minutes after they left the 17th century, the TARDIS was still not cooperating; only this time, it was turning the console room sideways.

“I thought you said the TARDIS liked us!” Ryan exclaimed as he hugged one of the crystal arches to keep from falling.

“She does!” The Doctor clung onto the console with one hand and reached for a control with the other. Suddenly, the room spun a little and she lost her balance. With a surprised yelp, she lost her grip and fell towards the TARDIS doors.

“Doctor!” Ryan, Graham, and Yaz shouted in unison.

Ryan grabbed the Doctor’s arm as she fell, but her momentum made him slip and his hand slid to her wrist. Searing pain shot up the Doctor’s arm. “Ow!” she yelled.

Ryan’s eyes widened and he let go, his mouth opening in shock the moment he realised what he’d done. “Doctor!”

Her feet landed hard on the doors, the force pushing her forward onto her knees. Still spinning. Why was the room still spinning? She didn’t know the TARDIS could do that.

“Which one is it?” Graham called from the console.

“That lever, over there!” The Doctor pointed it out, though her arm wobbled from side to side.

“Yeah it’s a bit hard to tell what you’re pointing at, what does it look like?”

“I think it’s this one!” Yaz reached from the arch she was hugging, but her fingers fell short.

Graham edged around the console and pulled a lever. The room turned back to normal. The Doctor used her hands to break her fall as she was tossed onto the ground.

“I’m sorry, Doctor,” Ryan said as he rushed over to her, his tone still agitated. “I didn’t mean to heart you.” He took her hand and helped her to her feet as Graham and Yaz joined them.

The Doctor looked down at her wrists, wondering at the source of the pain. Her skin was bright red. She turned her hands over and saw the same underneath. _The ropes,_ she realised. Well, they had hurt quite a bit.

Graham stepped forward, following the Doctor’s gaze. “What’s that?” He met her eyes. “Did King James do that to you?”

Yaz’s expression hardened as she looked on. “If I would’ve known, I would’ve given him a piece of my mind.”

Ryan huffed, pressing his lips into a hard line. “Me too.”

“I’m fine.” The Doctor let her arms fall so her sleeves covered her wrists.

“No you’re not! Let me see!” Graham reached forward and the Doctor retreated a step back. She swayed for a moment before distributing her weight more evenly. She sniffed and shook her head quickly.

“Time lord,” she said, trying to focus on Graham. “Fast healer.”

“Fast healer? We were just in the 17th century, who knows what sort of infections you could get!” He reached towards her again. “Please. Just a look.”

The Doctor sighed. She had a whole speech ready to go on her tongue, something about how time lord immune systems were far superior to human ones and human infections didn’t bother her anyway, but suddenly she was so tired that she just nodded. She could barely follow Graham’s face now, her vertigo was so bad.

Graham took her arm and held it up. Ryan and Yaz crowded around.

“Doctor…” Yaz met the Doctor’s gaze with pity in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Ryan said softly. His hands clenched into fists at his sides and his nostrils flared. “You know, I was starting to like King James, but now I feel like I could punch him.”

The Doctor pulled her arm from Graham. “He did worse things to other people. Don’t worry about me, it’ll clear up quickly enou…” Her nose itched and she trailed off into a sneeze.

“Bless you,” Graham said.

The Doctor sniffed again and rubbed her head. Why couldn’t she focus on anything without the world shifting out of control?

“Do you have…a cold?” Yaz asked.

“Not ill. I’m fine.” The suggestion woke the Doctor up a little. She straightened and put on a confident look. “I don’t catch colds.” She tried to smile, but sneezed again.

“You did end up in a freezing lake twice,” Ryan said.

“Not to mention that rain,” Graham added.

“I’m fine,” she insisted, meeting each of their eyes. “Really.”

Graham’s eyes narrowed as he stared at her. “Right. Ryan, go make some tea. Yaz, help me with her.”

“On it,” Ryan said, dashing off.

“Yeah.” Yaz stood by the Doctor’s side and took her arm.

The Doctor flinched away from her. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you to bed!” Graham said. “You’re sick, Doc. You need some rest.”

Yaz spoke up from her other side. “All this time we’ve been with you, and I don’t think you’ve ever slept.”

_“If_ I were ill and wanted to have a lie down, I could walk back to the corridor by myself. Besides, I don’t need sleep. Sleep is for…” For what? She couldn’t remember. She teetered sideways into Graham, and he used it as an excuse to help her forward a few steps.

“That’s it, Doc.”

The Doctor was too weary to protest anymore. Maybe she did need to lie down. Had she even slept since the day she’d regenerated?

Yaz and Graham helped her across the console room and into the corridor. “Graham, look at this!” Yaz pointed at a door that read “Med Bay.”

The Doctor frowned at the ceiling. Her own ship was turning against her.

“Perfect!” Graham patted the wall. “Thanks!”

They helped her shuffle inside and collapse onto an awaiting cot. The moment the Doctor’s head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes. A nap really was in order…

A whoosh sounded. “Glad I found you,” Ryan said. “Woah. She doesn’t look good.”

“’M fine,” she grumbled.

“Here, drink this.” Warm steam caressed her cheek.

The Doctor shook her head. “In a minute. First…”

And then she dozed off.

* * *

As the Doctor regained consciousness, she became aware of something around her left wrist. Her instincts kicked in and she tugged her arm free as she sat up quickly; too quickly, in fact, as the dizziness came back.

“Doctor.” Yaz’s voice sounded beside her. “Relax. It’s just me.”

The Doctor slowed her breathing and was able to focus on Yaz’s face, then Ryan’s and Graham’s close by.

“The TARDIS gave us something to help,” Ryan explained, holding up a tube of some kind of ointment.

The Doctor noticed her wrists were already coated with the stuff. “Thank you,” she said to Yaz.

Yaz nodded and scrubbed her hands together.

“How long was I out?” The Doctor pressed the heel of her hand into her forehead.

“A few hours,” Graham replied. “How do you feel?”

The Doctor frowned. “Not fine.”

Her three friends all cracked smiles.


End file.
